Mythbusting: Don’t the Oilsands Only Benefit Alberta?
Enemies of ethical oil frequently try to frame their argument in a way that isolates Alberta. That’s one of their tactics: to make it seem like Alberta benefits from its oilsands resource, while everyone else in Canada gets left out, or worse, has to suffer the negative international publicity around the oilsands. The irony is …
Mythbusting: Are the Oilsands Destroying an Area the Size of Florida?
The entire expanse of the oilsands resource does cover nearly the same area as the state of Florida—about 140,000 square kilometres. But that doesn’t mean that the extraction of the resource means 140,000 square kilometres of land is going to be “destroyed” or even disturbed. That’s the difference that groups lobbying against Ethical Oil want …
Mythbusting: Are the Oilsands Major greenhouse Gas Emitters?
Here’s an interesting statistic: Every single week, somewhere in China, two newly constructed coal-fired power plants fire up. The largest coal-fired power plant in the world, in Taiwan, emits about 42 megatonnes of carbon dioxide every year. Some of the biggest U.S. plants put out between 16 million and 25 million tonnes. But even if China’s building much …
Mythbusting: Are the Oilsands Harming Our Water?
It might be hard to believe it if you’ve never seen Alberta’s remarkable oilsands region up close and in person, but sometimes, the river water quality adjacent to an oilsands operation is cleaner than the water upstream. That’s because the banks along the Athabasca River have been naturally oozing bitumen into the water for thousands …
Mythbusting: Do the oilsands pollute the air?
There isn’t much mystery about the air quality around Fort McMurray’s oilsands region. That’s because data from measurements around the region are streamed onto the web continuously, for everyone to see at: www.wbea.org/content/view/56/1111 Take a look for yourself, because there’s certainly nothing to hide. Given all the misinformation being put out by anti-ethical oil special …
Mythbusting: Do the Oilsands Cause Cancer?
The Royal Society of Canada is no apologist for Big Oil. Devoted to “recognizing excellence in learning and research” since 1882, it’s prestigious, it’s stacked with the brightest academics in the country, and, most importantly, it’s incorruptible. You won’t find any reasonable person — even oilsands critics — who’ll tell you otherwise. So, if you’re …
